


I Need Your Help

by crazymessedupmind



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Anal Sex, Blowjobs, Bottom Carl Grimes, First Kiss, First Time, Gay Carl Grimes, Gay Sex, M/M, Probably not though, Protective Negan (Walking Dead), Sassy Carl Grimes, Tags May Change, Top Negan (Walking Dead), prisoner!Negan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:48:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23046535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazymessedupmind/pseuds/crazymessedupmind
Summary: Carl Grimes drives home from a friend's house a day after his graduation, still getting used to the excitement of being free from highschool. Everything is fine until he is suddenly stopped by a strange man in the streets.This man's name is Negan, he was assumed to be the cause of murder, and for some reason, Carl decides to take him home….
Relationships: Carl Grimes & Daryl Dixon, Carl Grimes/Negan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	I Need Your Help

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own _The Walking Dead_ or its characters.
> 
> Carl is 18 at the begining of this story, which is the consenting age where I'm at. But just in case, I tagged it as Underage.
> 
> I tried to edit this as much as possible, but if you happen to notice any mistakes, please tell me and I'll fix them.

Alarms ring, blaringly loud. There is yelling and shouting as people try to find a certain man and get him back in his cell, where he's supposed to be. There is so much noise it is almost too hard to concentrate.

The man that somehow found a way out of his prison cell is now running and running, trying to get away from the people pursuing him. He dodges left, then right, the prison full of sharp turns. He's been there long enough that he knows exactly where he has to be going in order to excape. This is his only chance.

He skids to a stop at the exit door, frantically looking back to see how close the prison guards are. Seeing that they are currently out of his sight, he forcefully swings the door open, stepping out and breathing in the fresh, evening air. It didn't last long, it couldn't or he would loose his chance. It has to be now.

The man runs and when he gets to the fence, he quickly climbs it and hops over. He flees, racing time, running until his side hurt, feet sore. He doesn't care, though. He has to get out of there.

After what feels like hours, he reaches the street. He pauses, trying to catch his breath. Cars pass by him every minute or so, and when he is ready, he forces one to stop by jumping out in front of it with his hands up in the air. The car skids to a stop, breaks screeching.

Breathlessly, the man jogs to the driver's side window and the person inside the car rolls the window down.

"What the hell?!" the driver exclaims, an annoyed look on his face.

"Please let me in," the man pants. "Please."

"Who the hell are you?" the younger man replies, not making a move to let the older one in.

"Let me in," the man pleads. "My name is Negan, and I need your help."

**######**

"Ugh, stop texting me, I'm trying to drive," Carl Grimes complains to his repeatedly dinging phone. It is distracting him but he can't do anything about it.

He blindly searches the radio for any songs he likes, but only thing that is on is either a commercial or a crappy song that only made him wince. He sighs and turns down the volume all the way.

His phone dings again and he rolls his eyes at what is probably his friend who's house he just left trying to tell him some cool thing she found on the internet or something.

Carl debates about opening the window as it was a very nice day out. But it is decided when a pebble suddenly strikes the window, freaking him out. So no, he isn't gonna risk getting hit by a stray pebble, even when it is very less likely another one will go through the window and hit him. 

Unexpectedly, a man runs out in front of him, hands waving in the air to get Carl's attention, scaring Carl more than the pebble did. 

Carl slams on the brakes, making his car screech to a stop. Thank god he didn't look at his phone or he could've killed the man.

The stranger jogs to his window and Carl reluctantly rolls the window down. 

"What the hell?!" he snaps, not able to help how much venom is in his voice. How could you blame him? He could get arrested if he hit the guy. 

"Please let me in. Please," the man says breathlessly. 

"Who the hell are you?" Carl asks, not really sure if he should unlock the car door or not. 

"Let me in," the stranger says again. "My name is Negan and I need your help." 

Carl sighs and unlocks the door, letting the stranger in. The man, Negan, hurriedly hops in the passenger seat, buckling himself in. 

"Please drive," Negan pants out, trying to catch his breath. Carl complies and the car starts rolling ahead at a steady pace.

"So…why should I be driving you somewhere?" Carl asks after a few minutes of silence. 

"I don't want to talk about it," Negan says gruffly, crossing his arms and leaning back in the seat. 

"Too bad," Carl snaps. "Tell me or I'm pulling over and kicking you out." 

"It's an emergency, okay?" Negan pleads, wishing the kid would drop the subject.

Surprisingly, he does, murmuring an "I'll say," then letting the conversation fall silent. 

It stays that way for a while longer until Negan couldn't handle it anymore. He hates awkward silences. 

"Say something please," Negan says, trying to be as polite as possible in these circumstances. 

Carl sighs. "What do you want me to say?" 

"Tell me about you or something," Negan suggests. 

"Fine," Carl replies. "I just graduated from highschool, like, yesterday." 

"Congratulations," Negan says truthfully. Carl smiles slightly. 

"Thanks. Highschool sucks, so I'm glad to be away from that." Negan nods in understanding. He's been there before. 

"Freedom is good. You can go out and do almost whatever," Negan replies, the irony slipping over his head. 

"Right," Carl says, smirking as he looks at Negan from the corner of his eye. "Anyway, I'm more of a stay-at-home kind of guy. I can be pretty lazy." 

"You look like the typical lazy guy," Negan teased, chuckling at his own words. Carl kinda does, though, with his baggy sweatshirt, jeans and slightly messy hair. It's what most people would think in Negan's defense. 

"Haha, yeah." Carl rolls his eyes. 

"Stop, stop, _stop!_ " Negan exclaimes suddenly and Carl screeches the car to a pause again. 

"What now?!" Carl groans exasperatedly. 

"You can drop me off here," Negan tells him and unbuckles himself. Carl looked at their surroundings. They were in a random neighborhood, not too far away from his own house, Carl realizes. 

"You sure?" Carl asks suspiciously.

"Yeah," Negan breathes then climbs out of the car. Carl stares at him for a moment as Negan slams the door shut before starting the car back up and driving away. 

He hopes he made the right decision helping this man. 

**######**

"C'mon, Judy. We're going to the park!" Carl picks up the little girl as she cheers in excitement. She loves the park. 

Carl's father was gone at work, so Carl could do pretty much whatever. So he decided that he would bring Judith to the local park to play so Carl can sit back and do what he does best: relax. 

The walk is short, which Carl likes. So they arrive in only a few minutes time. 

Thankfully, there wasn't much people there. It would make it easier to keep an eye on Judith without having to be next to her the whole time. That would make it pretty hard to relax. 

"Go play, sweetie," Carl says to Judith and she ran off towards a slide, giggling. 

Carl looks for a place to sit then catches sight of the man he helped two days ago sitting on a park bench. He notices the man looks upset; he has his head in his hands and his shoulders look tense. 

Carl glances back at Judith then walks over to Negan, stopping in front of him. He coughs, getting the man's attention. 

When Negan looks up, Carl sits on the bench next to him. "What's up?" Carl asks as normally as possible. Negan shrugs. 

"Nothing," Negan answers. 

They were silent for a moment before Carl asks something that had been on his mind for the past two days. 

"What happened that night? I mean, what _really_ happened?" Carl keeps his eyes on Judith as he speaks, letting Negan have a moment to think. Carl isn't a people-person so he does the best he can. 

Negan sighs sadly, deciding to tell the truth. What else could he do? 

"I was convicted of murder about a week ago," Negan starts. He notices the boy tense at his words, making Negan cringe, knowing how it sounds. "I didn't really do it, I promise, but I was accused of it. 

"The judge said I owed a lifetime in prison, even though I know I didn't do it. They thought I did, though. So, there's that. But still. I got arrested and they hauled me to prison and locked me up. That place is disgusting, let me tell you. Pretty cheap. And I didn't have any luck with my cellmates. They were worse than the place itself. Just the way they talked…I mean, I can get pretty vulgar with my language once I get comfortable, but I would never say any of the horrible things those people said. But anyway, I had to get out of there. I didn't belong there at all, but I didn't know what else to do. So I ran away." 

Carl sighs when Negan finishes. He doesn't know what to think about Negan's story. Did he really murder someone? Or is he telling the truth? 

"I knew that you were escaping from prison the moment I saw you," Carl admits. Negan looks confused, so Carl explains. "My dad's a cop and I could very easily tell by the orange jumpsuit. It was still daylight, so it's not like I couldn't see because of the dark. Why did you escape in broad daylight, anyway? Wouldn't you go at night?" 

"It was my only chance, so I took it." Negan looks down at himself. Thankfully, he changed before going out in public. "Why did you let me in your car if you knew I was from prison?" 

Carl shrugs dismissively. "You looked pretty genuine." 

"So?" Negan says incredulously. "All you knew was that I could've been there to hurt you or something. Thank you for doing that, but why?" 

"I don't know. I just did. And anyway, I bet if you wanted to hurt me you would've done it. There wasn't anyone around at that point, so you could've easily forced me to drive you somewhere instead of beg to get in the car." Carl smiles slightly when he sees Judith talking to some other kid on the swings. She made friends almost everywhere she goes. 

"What were you convicted for, anyway?" Carl asks. "I mean, who did they say you killed?" 

"Three small children," Negan replies, and Carl is almost sorry he asked. 

"Oh," Carl says and they fall silent. At least, until Negan couldn't take it anymore. 

"Is that your little sister, or something?" Negan asks Carl, nodding to the small girl. 

"Yeah," Carl answers, eyeing Negan suspiciously. If this guy did murder three kids, he doesn't think he could trust him with Judith. He won't leave her alone with him for a while, just in case. 

"You think I did it, don't you?" Negan whispers softly, a bit of hurt in his voice. "I didn't, I swear. I know it sounds really iffy, but I promise, I wouldn't hurt anyone like that, especially not children." 

Carl turns to Negan, shocked. "No! I mean, I'm still not sure, but I think I believe you." Carl also isn't sure that he should believe this strange man, but he decides to go with what his gut is saying: believe him, but be cautious, just in case. Still isn't sure if it's the right idea. 

Negan visibly relaxes, sighing and leaning back in his seat, crossing his arms like he did in the car. 

"You're a strange one, you know that, right?" Negan says to Carl, smirking. Carl rolls his eyes. 

"I can't help but say the same thing to you."

It is almost an hour later of them talking about random stuff and Judith playing before Carl decides to do something risky. 

"Do you need help with anything?" Carl asks Negan. "Like, some money or food or whatever?" 

Negan opens his eyes and looks at him with his eyebrow raised, obviously having relaxed enough in Carl's presence to be acting like himself. 

"Ya'know, kid, now that you've asked that, I've gotta say: I don't even have a house to go to." 

"You mean, you're homeless?" Carl says incredulously. Negan nods, closing his eyes and basking in the sunlight like he had been doing for a few minutes now. 

"It would be nice to have a place to stay while I figure myself out," Negan admits. "You don't have to if-" 

"I'll help you," Carl agrees, cutting Negan off. Negan looks at Carl again, this time with a shocked expression on his face. 

"Seriously?" he asks. 

"Yeah," Carl nods. "I'll get Judith and we can go to my house and we can talk about what to do." Right move or wrong move? Probably wrong, but Carl couldn't care less. 

"Sure," Negan agrees, still surprised. "Yeah, we can do that."

"Cool," Carl nods again. He gets up and walks towards his little sister. "Hey, Judith," he calls to her, "it's time to go home." 

Judith pouts, but says goodbye to her new friend and runs up to Carl. He picks her up and walks back to Negan. Carl motions for him to follow and Negan gets up, stretching for a moment then follows the kid. 

"Who is he?" Judith asks Carl, pointing at Negan when Negan slows next to them. 

"That's Negan. He's coming home with us for a little bit." Carl cringes as he realizes how that sounded. He knows that picking up random strangers and bringing them home is wrong and bad, his dad especially made sure he knew that, so why did he do it? Carl shook his head, trying to clear all of the buzzing thoughts. He'll think about them later. 

"Okay!" Judith exclaims, then starts playing with Carl's hair. Carl reminds himself to talk to Judith about how she shouldn't go picking up strangers all the time and that what he is doing is stupid. How ironic he thinks of that. 

Carl starts walking home with Judith in his arms and Negan follows. It was very quiet, other than Judith's soft babbling.Carl couldn't help but bask in it. He loves the quiet. 

Unfortunately for him, Negan doesn't. 

"So, how far away is you house?" Negan asks, trying to make small talk. 

Carl sighs when Negan practically cut the quiet in half, then put it in a paper shredder and setting it on fire. "Not that far away. Just about a block from here." 

"Is that why you're walking in the first place?" Negan teases with a smirk, remembering what Carl told him two nights ago in the car. Carl rolls his eye and shakes his head. 

"Sort of." The truth is that while Carl was just being lazy, he got bored so he decided to take Judith to the park, which she suggested.

They stay silent the rest of the way until they reach Carl's house. 

"Negan, you can sit on the couch after you take your shoes off," Carl tells him when they step through the door. "Just give me a moment and I'll be right with you." 

"Now it feels like I'm in a damn job interview," Negan says, taking his shoes off and sitting on the couch waiting for Carl like instructed. 

"Language," is all Carl says to that.

Negan taps his foot as Carl takes off Judith's shoes and quickly makes her a snack.

"Here, Judith," Carl says, handing her a few grapes. "You can go and play, but please don't make a mess." Carl watches as the little girl runs along with the grapes to her play section, then turns around to face Negan. "We need to think about a place where you can stay for a while." 

Negan nods in agreement. "Do you have any ideas, 'cause my brain is fucking empty." 

" _Language,_ God…" Carl rolls his eyes in exasperation. "But give me time to think for a moment." 

Negan chuckles, but lets Carl think. He is surprised that the kid makes him more comfortable than he's been in a while in under ten hours. It was a goddamn miracle in Negan's eyes. 

Just as Carl opens his mouth to speak, they both hear a knock at the door. They scramble to get Negan in a hiding place before Carl goes and answers the door. 

"Hello?" Carl says, confusion etching his features when he saw who it was. 

For some reason, the damn Atlanta FBI decided to show up at Carl's door. Carl has an idea about why, though. 

"Hello, sir," the FBI greets him. "We were just wondering if you had seen a strange man go by anytime recently?" 

Yup, he is right. They were there for Negan. 

"Um, well, I do believe I saw a man walk that way," Carl points to his left, "but men pass around here all the time. Why do you need to know?" 

"We'd like to keep that a secret, don't want people freaking out too much yet, ya'know. News spread fast around here. We just want to make sure you keep an eye out for anyone that looks suspicious." Carl nods at the man's words. 

"Well, thanks for telling me. I'll keep an eye out." The man nods, then turns around and leaves. 

Carl sigh in relief, happy that he dodged a bullet. He is also pretty proud with himself for being able to lie to the FBI. He would be lying if he said he didn't like to rebel every once in a while. 

He closes the door and fast walks to Negan's hiding spot. In their haste, Carl had shoved him in the linen closet in the hall just outside the living room. 

"They're gone," Carl says to Negan as he opens the door. Negan rushes out like he had been stabbed, panting a little. "Whoa, are you okay?" 

"Just…a little claustrophobic," Negan pants. Carl raises his eyebrows in surprise. 

"You have claustrophobia?" Carl asks incredulously. Negan nods. 

"Don't even ask," the man warns and Carl puts his hands up in a defensive position. 

"Wasn't planning to," he says. They go back to the living room and see Judith climbing onto the couch. Carl helps her up and him and Negan also sit down, which Judith seems to take some joy in. 

"Oh, and thanks for lying for me," Negan admits. "It's still a very idiotic move as you don't know who I am, but thanks nonetheless." 

"No problem," Carl says, nodding his head in Negan's direction, fighting back an eye roll. 

"Do you have any ideas about where I could hang?" Negan asks curiously. Carl sighs. 

"Once again, give me a moment to think…." Carl bites his lip in thought. 

"Think of anything?" Negan asks after about five minutes of pure silence, wondering if this kid has done this much thinking ever in his life. 

"Well, I have one idea," Carl admits. "But he might not want to bring you in." 

"Who's 'he'?" Negan asks cautiously. "And if he might not agree, why would you risk it?" 

"Just an old friend of my dad's," Carl waves the second question off dismissively and gets up and goes to the kitchen to call the person from his cell phone. The reason he went in the kitchen was because he doesn't want to seem rude by letting Negan hear the possible yelling that might happen from the other end. Or maybe he just doesn't want to get embarrassed by the yelling because he's on front of Negan. He couldn't tell which. 

Carl dials the number he knows by heart and waits with the phone by his ear for the man to pick up, nervousness slowly starting to build. 

_"Hello?"_ a familiar gruff voice says, finally answering the phone. 

"Hello, Daryl," Carl greets the man. "How are you today?" 

_"Hey, Carl. I'm doing fine. What about you?"_

"I'm good," Carl replies. "It's just… I have a favor to ask of you, and it's a pretty huge one." 

_"What is it? Wait, you didn't break a window by trying to throw and catch a bowling ball again, did you?"_

Carl's face immediately starts to get red at the thought of the memory, and he is thankful that Daryl couldn't see it. He remembers when that happened, Daryl had helped him get a new window for the house and luckily his dad didn't notice it. Carl lost a bit of his paycheck to Daryl after that to repay him. 

"Nah, it might be worse though," Carl cringes, wishing Daryl wouldn't freak when he finds out. 

_"Oh, God. What happened?"_ Carl takes a deep breath, readying himself to tell Daryl the big news. 

"Well, two nights ago I helped this guy in the road to… I don't know, run away or whatever, and now he's in my house and he needs a place to stay." Carl pauses. He hopes that maybe if he broke the news down slowly Daryl might take it better. 

_"What was he running away from?"_ Daryl asks. 

"Uh… jail," Carl says, biting his lip nervously. 

_**"What?!"**_ Daryl yells through the speaker. Carl flinches and sighs before replying. 

"Wait, wait! Please. It's… please," he takes another deep breath before opening his mouth to say something else, but Daryl got there first before he did. 

_"What was he convicted of?"_ Daryl asks firmly. 

"Murder…" Carl murmurs, quiet enough that Daryl couldn't hear that well. 

_"What was that?"_

Carl clears his throat before saying louder: "He was convicted of murder." 

_"What the hell, Carl?! That's even worse!"_ Daryl exclaims, disbelief and worry in his tone.

"I know, I know. Please, Daryl. He says he didn't do it-" 

_"So?! A lot of muderers say they didn't do it, that doesn't change anything!"_ Carl has to admit, Daryl had a point there. But Carl presses on, despite that knowledge. 

"No, Daryl. He looks pretty genuine, I have a feeling he didn't." Carl takes a deep, reassuring breath. "Please, I need your help. Please help me with this." 

Daryl sighs at the other end. _"What do you need me to do?"_

"Well, he needs a place to stay…" 

_"Oh, hell no, he ain't stayin' with me!"_

"It's only temporary! He just needs to stay somewhere for a while as he gets himself together. Please?" Carl begs. He waits for Daryl's answer, crossing his fingers in hope that Daryl would agree to help them. 

Another sigh. _"Fine. But if he makes even just one wrong move, I'll kick him out so damn fast, both your heads are gonna spin."_

Carl lets out a huge breath he didn't know he was holding, relieved at Daryl's answer.

"Okay. Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I think I should drop him off today, if that's fine with you. I kinda don't want him to run into my dad." Carl cringes at the thought of what could and probably would happen if his dad, who is with the Atlanta police force, found Negan. Especially if he found Negan _in their house._

 _"Yeah. I'll get the guest room set up. Bring him over. I'll see you in a bit."_

"Thanks again. Bye," Carl says, and hangs up after Daryl's goodbye. Carl waits a few moments in the kitchen before going out and facing Negan. 

He froze when he saw the man playing around with Judith on the couch. At first he panicked when he saw him with his little sister, but slowly relaxed as Negan kept playing with her and making her giggle. It's adorable, Carl thinks and watching for a little longer before clearing his throat. Negan turn to look at him curiously. 

"I talked with Daryl," Carl starts. "He says he will let you stay. But don't you go and mess it up." Negan rolls his eyes at the warning. "Trust me, I'll be doing my damn best not to mess this shit up." 

_"Language,"_ Carl says, annoyed. "How much times do I have to say this?" 

Negan shrugs. "I told you I can get pretty harsh with my language." Carl just shakes his head. 

"Whatever. We have to go anyway, Daryl's waiting." Carl's glad he was lazy and didn't take off his shoes when he walked in the house. 

"Already?" Negan asks, looking at Judith sadly as if he wanted to keep playing with her. Well, maybe he did, Carl thought. 

"Yeah. And this time we have to drive," Carl replies and grabs his car keys from on the coffee table. "Let's go."

**######**

Doors slam shut as Negan and Carl - who had Judith in his arms - got out of the car and walk over to Daryl's front door. Carl knocks, remembering that the doorbell was busted, and waits for Daryl to answer.

He doesn't wait long before Daryl opens the door and rushes them in. 

"It'll be best if we did this quickly," Daryl says after he shuts the front door. Negan nods in agreement. 

"Yeah, he's right," Negan says to Carl. "We don't want to raise too much suspicion."

Carl sighs, a bit upset. He wanted to stay and talk to Daryl for a while, but he guesses that wouldn't be happening, at least not today. 

"Okay, fine," Carl groans. "You sure you guys will be good?" 

Both Daryl and Negan nod. Carl shifts Judith in his arms then nods back. 

"I'll check up on you guys tomorrow, I promise," he says. 

"What, don't trust us or anything?" Negan teases. Daryl shoots him a warning glare, knowing that Carl hates to be teased. 

Carl rolls his eyes, then gives Negan a 'really?' look. "Whatever," he says, shrugging. He doesn't want to deal with this right now. He turns around and goes back to the door and opens it. "See you guys tomorrow," he calls over his shoulder and steps out, smiling when he sees Judith wave behind him.

**######**

As Carl lays his head down on his pillow, all these thoughts crowd his brain. He thinks about earlier, how he helped Negan and dropped him off at Daryl's house. He hopes Negan and Daryl get along, at least a little. 

But then he starts to get doubts. Should he have helped Negan in the first place? Should he have put Judith alone in the same room as someone who some people believe killed three small children? What he did was wrong, that's for sure. But it is too late now. Carl has to deal with the consequences, even if he hopes there aren't any. 

**######**

"Hey, Dad?" Carl asks his father after he swallows his bite of breakfast. 

"Yeah?" Rick answers, glancing up at his son. 

"Can I go to Daryl's today?" Carl shoves another bite of his cereal after he asks his question. Rick laughs loudly and Carl looks at him, confused. 

"You're over eighteen, you can go wherever you want pretty much," Rick says, setting down his book that he was reading. "Just let me know when you'll be back and you can go." 

"Oh, right," Carl replies. "I forgot, yeah. I think I will be back at around three." 

"Great. Have fun. Don't get into too much trouble." Rick adds the last part in a warning tone, making Carl briefly think that Rick knew about the bowling-ball incident, or any of the other incidents Daryl got him out of. But he trusts Daryl, so he let it go. 

"I won't," Carl promises, but then he realizes that technically, he was getting into _a lot_ of trouble today, and already did so yesterday. And the two days before that. God, what the hell is wrong with him?

Thankfully, he is soon in his car and he drives to the house he knows and loves well. 

He knocks on the door, but when there is no answer, he grabs the extra key in the flower pot that only a few people know its hiding spot and he unlocks the door. He steps in and as soon as he does, he hears yelling. He quickly shuts and locks the door behind him and runs to where the yelling is. 

When he reaches the dining room where the yelling is taking place, he sees Daryl yelling at Negan. Carl could only catch the last part before Negan yells back.

"Well, I'm sorry, but how the fuck would I know that they would show up?!" Negan yells loudly at Daryl. 

"Hey, hey!" Carl shouts to get their attention. "What the hell is going on here? What happened?" 

"The goddamned city police had to search my damn house for this motherfucker," Daryl explains, shooting a glare in Negan's direction. Negan glares back. 

"It's not my fucking fault," Negan snaps angrily. 

"Language, both of you!" Carl exclaims. "It's done now and obviously Negan didn't get found by them, so please, just stop." 

"Look, Carl," Daryl says, taking a step towards the late teen. "I'm just sayin' that Negan can't hide here forever 'cause people are searchin' for him left and right. You need to do something, and quick." 

"I know." Carl sighs, running his through his hair. "And I think I have an idea, but I might need your help, Daryl."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked the story!


End file.
